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Daily Business Report — June 8, 2011

EPA Awards Grant for Southeast San Diego Cleanup

Market Street Plaza in the Village of Market Creek

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has awarded the Jacobs Center for Neighborhood Innovation a $200,000 Brownfields grant that will be used to eradicate the pesticide and lead contaminated Trolley Residential site in preparation for construction of 52 units of affordable housing at The Village at Market Creek. “This funding will rid the soils of contamination at this site, the first step in the construction of green, affordable rental homes,” said Jared Blumenfeld, EPA’s regional administrator for the Pacific Southwest. The 52 new homes will meet LEED-Silver certification criteria including green building materials, water conservation utilities, solar power and drought resistant landscaping. Last year, EPA awarded the Jacobs Center a $175,000 planning grant as one of the 23 nationwide Brownfields Area-Wide Planning Pilot Program recipients. The grant also supports The Village at Market Creek, a future sustainable community emerging in the Diamond Neighborhoods, an underserved, brownfields-impacted area in the center of an economi­cally distressed community of 84,300 residents located in southeastern San Diego. The Village will eventually transform over 60 acres of blighted land into 1,000 affordable homes, and restore nearly 5,500 linear feet of wetlands. Over 1.6 million square feet of new construction will bring more than $300 million in contracts to the community, attracting over 250 new businesses and creating 2,000 jobs.

Program Focuses on Excessive Executive Pay

Excessive pay plans for executives will be the focus of a Corporate Directors Forum program June 15 featuring a panel of San Diego experts. The program will explore the effects of shareholder activism and legislation enancted to try to rein in excessive compensation plans for company executives. The panelists are Aaron Boyd, head of research for Equilar Inc.; Abe M. Friedman, former head of corporate governance for BlackRock Inc.; and Douglas J. Friske, global executive compensation leader for Towers Watson & Co. Julia R. Brown, director of Targacept Inc., will moderate the discussions. The event starts at 7 a.m. with the breakfast and program running between 7:30 and 9 a.m. It will be at the Hyatt Regency La Jolla, 3777 La Jolla Village Drive, San Diego. Corporate Directors Forum members are free. Nonmembers pay $40. To register, call (858) 455-7930 or visit directorsforum.org.

Security Business Bank Hires Chief Banking Officer

Jim Horton

Security Business Bank has hired Jim Horton as chief banking officer based in Carlsbad. Horton has 40 years of experience in banking. He previously was president and general chairman of the Farmers Insurance Open and The Century Club of San Diego. For the past several years he served as director of strategic planning for Torrey Pines Bank. Horton also was an executive vice president and division manager for California Bank & Trust. He spent 16 years of his career at Bank of America in operations, internal audit and business banking.

Solomon Ward Law Firm Adds Bill Whelan as Partner

Bill Whelan

Bill Whelan has joined the San Diego law firm of Solomon Ward Seidenwurm & Smith as a partner. Whelan previously was a partner at Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton in its labor and employment and appellate practice groups. He specializes in labor and employment matters exclusively on behalf of management clients. Whelan currently serves on the board of the St. Vincent de Paul Villages. He has been named one of San Diego’s “Super Lawyers” in labor and employment each year from 2007 to 2010. Whelan received his law degree from UCLA and his bachelor’s degree from Pomona College. He also externed for J. Lawrence Irving, former U.S. District Court judge in San Diego.

Three Attorneys Join Perkins Coie Firm in San Diego

Three new attorneys have joined the emerging companies practice in the San Diego office of Perkins Coie. Peter Townshend has joined as partner and George Colindres and Monique Ho have joined as Of Counsel. The group joins from McDermott Will & Emery LLP. Townshend received his law degree from the UC Berkeley School of Law, a master’s degree from the UC Berkeley and a bachelor’s degree from Yale University. Colindres earned his law degree UCLA Law School and a B.S.F.S. from Georgetown University. Ho received her law degree and bachelor’s degree from UC Davis. She served on the dender diversity committee at McDermott Will & Emery. Perkins Coie’s San Diego office opened a year ago.

Higgs Fletcher & Mack Brings In Three New Attorneys

Mike Boyle

Alicia Dearn

Virginia Price

The Higgs Fletcher & Mack law firm has added three new attorneys to its San Diego practice. Mike Boyle rejoins the firm after more than four years as general counsel for a San Diego based construction company. Prior to that, Boyle had been recruited out of Higgs by Mayor Jerry Sanders and served as director of the city’s Real Estate Assets Department in the middle of a major He has over 25 years experience in construction law. Alicia Dearn has worked in both employment and business law and successfully defended several wage and hour cases. Her previous firm associations were with Paul, Hastings, Janofsky and Walker, and Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman. Dearn formed the Dearn Law Group in 2009 to focus on legal services for entrepreneurs and businesses. Virginia Price will work with the firm’s transportation practice group. Formerly with Klinedinst PC, Price was responsible for starting and building that firm’s transportation practice group, including a 24 hour/day rapid response protocol for her clients. Virginia focuses her practice on representing the transportation industry in a variety of litigation matters including catastrophic loss claims, cargo liability, and employment liability. She also counsels her clients on employment decisions, contract negotiation, and compliance with local, state, and federal regulations.

Rancho Valencia Names Director of Sales and Marketing

Brad Naucler has been appointed director of sales and marketing for Rancho Valencia, an Auberge Resort. He will oversee all sales and marketing initiatives for the resort. Naucler has nearly 20 years of experience in hospitality sales and marketing, working extensively at hotels and resorts in Southern California.Most recently, he held various leadership positions for Noble House Hotels and Resorts, including serving as the director of sales and marketing for the Hilton San Diego Resort & Spa for the past five years. Prior to that, he was the director of sales at Paradise Point Resort & Spa. Naucler began his career in hospitality working at several Wyndham Hotels & Resorts and DoubleTree Hotels in various sales and marketing positions. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Washington State University.

Kilroy Realty Acquires Sorrento Mesa Office Building

Kilroy Realty Corp. has purchased a 174,000-square-foot office building in Sorrento Mesa for $32.7 million. The property at 10770 Wateridge Circle is 98 percent occupied. It is located close to several other Kilroy properties. The company is in various stages of negotiations on six additional acquisitions, including two in Southern California.

First PacTrust Bancorp to Acquire Gateway Business Bank in Cerritos

First PacTrust Bancorp Inc., the holding company for Chula Vista’s Pacific Trust Bank, has entered into an agreement to purchase the outstanding shares of Gateway Bancorp, the privately held holding company for Gateway Business Bank in Cerritos. As part of the transaction, First PacTrust will acquire Mission Hills Mortgage Bankers, which was founded in 1969 and is an operating division of Gateway Business Bank. Under the terms of the agreement, shareholders of Gateway Bancorp will receive up to $17 million in cash. At closing, the combined company is expected to have total assets exceeding $1 billion and will operate through 14 bank branch locations throughout Southern California (including Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Diego Counties) and 22 loan production offices through Mission Hills in California, Arizona and Oregon. The acquisition is expected to close late in the second half of 2011.

Sycamore Ventures to Purchase Memory Modules Maker

Sycamore Ventures of San Diego has signed a letter of intent to acquire Precise Memory Inc. in Irvine, a manufacture of memory modules for work stations, laptops and servers. Tony Khodadad, CEO of Sycamore Ventures, said Precise Memory has a revenue base of $12 million per year. It was launched in 1993. The purchase price was not disclosed.

Small Business Workshops

SCORE San Diego continues its series of low-cost workshops. Fees range from $29 to $109, depending on the program. To register online, visit score-sandiego.org. For more information, call (619) 557-7272.

• June 9 – Financial Statements – What They Mean, How to Use Them – 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. at National University in Kearny Mesa (9388 Lightwave Ave., San Diego 92123; pre-paid registration $29, $39 at the door)

• June 10 –Hiring and Managing Employees – 9 a.m. to noon at National University in Kearny Mesa (9388 Lightwave Ave., San Diego 92123; pre-paid registration $49, $59 at the door)

• June 11 –Introduction to Starting Your Own Business – 9 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. at National University in Kearny Mesa (9388 Lightwave Ave., San Diego 92123; pre-paid registration $69, $79 at the door)

• June 14 – Managing Grants and Contracts – 9 to 11:30 a.m. at The San Diego Foundation in Point Loma (2508 Historic Decatur Road, #200, San Diego 92106; pre-paid registration $39, $49 at the door)

• June 15 – Internet Marketing 303 – Social Media for Small Businesses – 9 a.m. to noon at National University in Kearny Mesa (9388 Lightwave Ave., San Diego 92123; pre-paid registration $49, $59 at the door)

• June 17 – Import/Export – 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at National University in Kearny Mesa (9388 Lightwave Ave., San Diego 92123; pre-paid registration $69, $79 at the door)

• June 22 – Business Plan 201: How to Write a Winning Business Plan – 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at National University in Kearny Mesa (9388 Lightwave Ave., San Diego 92123; pre-paid registration $99, $109 at the door)

• June 28 – Introduction to Starting Your Own Business – 9 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. at National University in Carlsbad (705 Palomar Airport Road, Carlsbad 92011; pre-paid registration $69, $79 at the door)

• June 29 – Tax Considerations for Small Business – 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. at National University in Kearny Mesa (9388 Lightwave Ave., San Diego 92123; pre-paid registration $29, $39 at the door)

• June 30 – Business Basics 101 – 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at National University in Kearny Mesa (9388 Lightwave Ave., San Diego 92123; no charge – please pre-register)

The Daily Business Report is produced by REP Publishing Inc., publisher of SD METRO, the North Park News, Kensington News and the West Coast Craftsman. Contact: Manny Cruz (619) 287-1865.

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Voice Your Opinion

We Want Your Opinions on San Diego’s Big Issues
In the coming months, Probosky Research (one of California’s leading opinion research firms) will continue its partnership with SD METRO to survey San Diego residents about topics of interest to our readers. We’d like to throw open the door for suggestions for topics. What do you want to know? What do you think you know, but aren’t sure? What are you certain you know, but want to prove it beyond doubt? Ideally, we’d like to see questions that have to do with public policy.
Some areas may include Mayor Filner’s first 100 days job performance, should the city be responsible for economic growth and the creation of new jobs, how important are infrastructure improvements to our daily lives (streets and bridges, etc.), how important is water independence, how satisfied are residents with public transit or how do city residents value Balboa Park and other open spaces? Do you believe the City Council should revive the Plaza de Panama plan for Balboa Park?
You can email Probolsky Research directly with your ideas: info@probolskyresearch.com